My main newsletter, Complex Machinery, includes a section called "In Other News..." It's where I list one-liners about interesting articles that didn't fit into any segments.

You can think of this list as a version of In Other News, but with a wider remit than Complex Machinery's "risk, AI, and related topics."

Above the fold

1. As a student of asymmetric warfare, I've learned that ruthless efficiency is key to survival for the smaller combatant. They rely on creativity, intelligence-gathering, and fighting dirty because they lack the size and equipment to take their opponent head-on. So it was no surprise to see Ukraine's resistance network targeting Russian troops through dating apps. (The Atlantic)
2. World Cup parent FIFA may have left the proverbial door open on its video feeds. (bobdahacker)
3. If you're going to crash your bike, do it right. As told by someone who'd know. (Pangyrus)
4. How an American Dot Com-era founder and startup advisor made a name for herself worldwide. And not in the best way. (The Guardian)
5. Life as a fugitive family. This story has more identity swaps than a spy novel. And the tradecraft isn't half-bad. (The Atavist Magazine)
6. Apparently, employees passing genAI slop through multiple levels of a company degrades business processes. This reminds me of the way bad data flows through multiple levels of downstream models. (HBR)
7. France's internal security agency, the DGSI, will move away from Palantir in favor of a domestically-created tool. (Le Monde 🇫🇷)
8. The largely-unregulated field of peptides has created a financial boom time for some. (Bloomberg)
9. I had no idea that Pizza Hut was big in China. But it is. I now know this because the parent company is selling off its operations there. (WSJ)
10. The Five Eyes group offers guidance on how to think about cybersecurity in the age of genAI. (NSA)

The rest of the best

Special section: Futurism

Futurism has become a new favorite in tech journalism. Here's a sampler:

• Latest entrant to the AI-consumer hellscape: creepy, adtech-infused shopping carts. (Futurism)
• NYC hits the brakes on Waymo expansion. (Futurism)
• Visual artists may get additional legal protections against genAI-based ripoffs. (Futurism)
• People working at Meta aren't happy. Something to do with the leadership team. (Futurism)

Datacenters

• Nature's revenge: if datacenters are going to harm the environment, the environment will take a stab at datacenters. Because those things hold big exposures to climate risk. (CNBC)
• Frustration over datacenters may turn violent. (Newsweek)
• Datacenters don't just pollute the air; they also create a lot of noise. (New York Times)
• SpaceX has shifted its attention earthward as it becomes a datacenter company. (Gizmodo)

Assorted links

• A look at personal financial debt, from the call center of a British collections firm. (FT)
• Those LinkedIn slopfluencers? They've gone from AI-generated content to hiring people to post biz-speak tidbits in their name. (Rest of World)
• While the US isn't having the best time with genAI, South Korea is going all-in. (MIT Technology Review)
• The company behind the Midjourney genAI image creator is going to try its hand at … medical exams. (The Register)
• Norway turns against AI in education. Will other countries or industry verticals follow? (Gizmodo)

Did I miss anything?

Have something I should read? Send the link my way.